"For Unto Us a Child Is Born." Isaiah 9:6

Christmas in Mexico

Tradition Without Knowledge

Christmas in Veracruz

 

  While Mexico, being 90% Catholic, observes the traditional Christian holidays such as Christmas, there is little understanding among the people of the significance of the Incarnation. There are many layers of religion between the hearts of the people and the God who wants to save them.

  In the churches there is ritual and observance. Among the people there is celebration and festivals. But, in the hearts of the people there is a lack of understanding of the relationship that is necessary in order to receive the salvation of the Lord.

  This Christmas there will be fiestas and fireworks. There will be religion and regalos (gifts). There will be displays and drunkenness, but there will be little true worship with understanding of the marvelous grace of our God

The Poinsettia is indigenous to Mexico

.

  Pray that the people of Mexico will come to know the Christ of Christmas as their personal Savior and Lord. Pray that He will be more than an excuse to party. Pray that he will bring hope to families and individuals who need Him desperately. 

 Causes For Rejoicing

  During our time in Mexico, we have seen God’s hand working in the following areas:

·          Four new churches or preaching points.

·          Growth and baptisms in our local church in Jerez.

·          Theological training of pastors and church leaders through two formats.

·          Increasing opportunities for partnerships with others in church planting.

·          Doors opening in areas we hadn’t anticipated before coming to Mexico.

Your Help Is Needed

We cannot continue to serve in Mexico without you!! Would you consider partnering with us in the following ways?

·          Financial support

We have fallen short in monthly gifts the past few months. We desperately need your gifts in order to continue. Thank you for your sacrificial giving.

·          Teams

Would you consider bringing a team to Mexico to help with the work here. We will take care of you while you are here and help you have a rewarding experience.

·          Prayer

We cannot continue without your prayer support. Please pray for us daily.

Thank You!!

Your gifts and prayers are greatly appreciated. Would you consider giving to Global Outreach International as well. They are our “Great Missions Family.” You can learn how to give by clicking on "Give" here on our blog.

"You do not have because you do not ask." James 4:2

Something has taken place that has not happened in the three years that we have been pursuing the missions call of God for our lives. For the first time we did not have sufficient funds to meet our living and ministry needs as missionaries. Our expenses did not go up, but giving did not match the need for the first time in the month of September. We try to live on a modest salary and to be frugal but effective with ministry expenses. There have been several months which came close to not meeting the need, but at the end of every month we always had a positive balance of some size in our account. This last month this was not the case.

For us this is kind of puzzling. We have always trusted God to supply our need and He always has. So, the natural question is "Why is this happening now." It causes a great deal of soul searching and challenges the way we have always thought and operated. In the past three years we have not made a direct appeal for funds from the standpoint of lack or concern. Our desire was to present the mission, pray for the need and trust God to provide through His people. We do not have any doubt in God's ability to do that very thing. He has done it over and over again. What we do doubt is whether we are doing all that we should. With that question in mind we are writing this post. We have always said that you are our partners in what God is doing through us here in Mexico. It is our obligation to treat you as partners and let you know where we are and what the need is.

In the Word of God, we see men of God who were called of God asking the people of God for that which is needed for the work. Moses did this when building the tabernacle. Solomon did this when building the temple. Ezra and Nehemiah did this when reconstructing Jerusalem and the temple. Paul did this when seeking to minister to the Jerusalem church. Now, we are doing this to continue the work God has called us to do.

We have tried to be faithful in letting you know periodically what God is doing through us here in Mexico. Hopefully we have been faithful in that task, but, let us remind you. We are here to take the gospel to communities which do not have it. We are here to seek, as God leads, to plant churches in those areas. We are here to encourage churches and pastors to do what God has called them to do to reach Mexico. We are hear to train pastors and leaders to prepare to better serve the kingdom of God and His church. God is leading us forward on all of those fronts and we are trying to be faithful. Those of you who have been kind enough to visit us here have seen how that works.

Let us say that we are so grateful for you who have given to our mission and ministry so faithfully. Are we saying that we expect you to give more than you are already giving? No. Are we saying that we expect those who haven't given or haven't given lately to start giving? No. It is not ours to ask anything of you that God is not asking of you. What we are doing is presenting the current need and humbly asking that if God lays it on your heart to give something extra or to start giving again or to give for the first time please be obedient to HIS call. Remember also, that whether you can give or not, we desperately need your prayers. Pray for God's continued leadership and blessing in the work here in Mexico. Pray also for every need to be met and thank you very much for your prayers. We are confident that if God's people do as God calls them to do, the need will be met. Thank you for reading this post and thank you in advance for your obedience to God's leadership. Please click on "Give" on our blog to learn how you can give.

Tony and Beverly

Planting Churches - Making Disciples

Busy Summer

This summer has been extremely busy with a visit to the states in late May and early June, including seminary classes for Tony and the wedding of our son, Aaron and new daughter-in-law, Amelia. We are grateful to have Amelia in our family. We returned home to Mexico to teams coming to work and a pastor’s conference to participate in as well as a large Vacation Bible School at our church which had about 220 in attendance each night. During gospel saturations and other outreach efforts we have seen about 15 saved. Glory be to the Lord!

Church Planting

Tepetongo

The church at Tepetongo continues to be going strong. Attendance lately has been around 15-20. The church plant still meets on Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. Those who are a part of the work there feel the Lord has a plan to reach Tepetongo. We know that is correct.

San Antonio la Calera

After gospel saturation efforts by the Caldwell/Lyon Association and Trace Creek Baptist Church, we have great hopes of starting a new work in the El Plateado and San Antonio la Calera area. A Christian brother was found there who has been praying for a church to start there. He even has plans to build a church on a piece of ground he bought for that very purpose. Please be praying for this eventual church plant.

Theological Education

Through the joint efforts of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Caldwell/Lyon Baptist Association in Kentucky, a new certificate program is being offered to the pastors in Zacatecas state and other states in this part of Mexico. Participating in teaching these courses are Dr. Bill Warren of NOBTS, Carlos de la Barra of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, Jim Collins of Alabama, and this missionary. This has been a vision of those from the CLBA for some time and it is a blessing to see it coming to pass by God’s grace. Thanks to Rick Reeder and the churches of the CLBA for a strong commitment to this vision.

CLBA Pastor's Conference

Tony is also starting training for potential pastors and church leaders in the Jerez area through material provided by the Bible Training Centre for Pastors. Through both of these resources more pastors, church planters and Bible teachers will be trained for greater use in the Kingdom. Please pray that it will be so.

Future Needs

Increased travel expenses over the next year

Furniture for a classroom for Theol. Training

Extra cost for renewing visas this year

Thank You!!

We are so grateful for your continued support. Without your prayer support and financial giving we could not continue. Our budget will increase quite a bit due to the above needs. Your gifts are appreciated. Please consider giving to Global Outreach International as well. They are our “Great Missions Family.”

Mother's Day in Mexico

Overflow Crowd

The Queen and her Court

An Older Mother Sharing Her Testimony

Pastor Ruben Ochoa Preaching

Honoring Mothers

A "Queen of the Home" Found

The Queen of the Home Crowned

Today in our church we had a special service for mothers. The service included a drama about a queen who had a terminal disease who sent her servants searching for the appropriate person to reign in her place. They searched the kingdom and found a number of people who might qualify. These included a musician, a farmer, a businessman, a teacher, and a warrior, all of whom argued their case as to what they could provide for the kingdom. The queen was not satisfied, however, and sent them out searching again. They returned with the "queen of the home," who had suffered patiently and taught lovingly and provided generously for her family. She was the perfect candidate to reign in place of the queen, and after she was crowned the new queen, she instructed all of her subjects to prepare to present themselves before the "King of kings."

A quartet including Steve Benedict, Jerry Chen, Ruben Ochoa, and Tony Steele, also sang a special song for the mothers  called "Mujer, Bella Mujer." A recording was made and handed out to the mothers which you can hear at this link. Click the orange play button at the top. 




What follows are the lyrics with translation.

Más hermosa que cualquier piedra,
(More beautiful than any (gem)stone)
Luchas contra todo, no te rindes.
(You struggle against everything, you don’t give up)

Solo hay una madre como tú.
(There is only one mother like you)

Cuando hablas, hablas con gracia,

(When you speak, you speak with grace)

Cuando enseñas, enseñas con amor.

(When you teach, you teach with love)
Solo hay una madre como tú.
(There is only one mother like you)

Mujer, bella mujer en Dios está tu fe,

(Woman, beautiful woman, your faith is in God)

Mujer, bella mujer, en Dios está tu fuerza.

(Woman, beautiful woman, your strength is in God)

We hope all mothers enjoyed this day and we pray that every child is born to a godly, Christian mother.

“The Churches Strengthened” Acts 16:5

Church Planting

We are grateful for the Lord’s blessings in helping us and our church, “Todas Las Naciones” to start or help with three new works. Thanks to the Lord’s blessings there are new church starts in:

·          Monte Escobedo

Tepetongo

·          Santa Lucía de la Sierra

·          Tepetongo

The church in Tepetongo was started about a month ago after a request by some believers in the town.

Monte Escobedo

The church in Monte Escobedo was begun by Bro. Ben Elliott from Del Rio, TX. He and his family have plans to move to Jerez this summer to continue the work and prayerfully start more churches. Until then we are helping him with the work in Monte Escobedo.

Santa Lucia de la Sierra

The church in Santa Lucía de la Sierra is made up of some individuals who accepted Christ as their Savior in Kentucky. We met them there several years ago and they asked us to come to their village when we moved to Mexico.

 Growth of the Church

The Lord is blessing our church in Jerez, “Todas Las Naciones,” with greater vision and opportunities to take the Gospel to the world. The name of the church means “All The Nations” in English and this is truly the vision of the church. Of course, we are starting with our Jerusalem and Judea, but we are open to whatever God has for us.

 Theological Training For

Pastors and Leaders

We are praying that we can begin theological training for pastors, church planters, and church leaders this August here in Jerez. This is a great need. Tony was trained by the Bible Training Centre for Pastors in March in El Paso, Texas in order to teach their material.

Thank You!!

We are so grateful for your continued support. Without your prayer support and financial giving we could not continue. Know that we are praying for you as you “hold the ropes” for us.